My story, my internship experience at Ghana Business News
I don’t fancy writing essays and more so longer ones. How ironic, I know; I’m supposed to be a journalist. But if you’ve had any experience with a dyslexic, you might believe me.
Anyways, writing has always been uncomfortable. In basic school days, high school and even writing this piece of an article. It has always had to be internal conundrums and an uncertainty with how to move from A to Z. I tried at journaling, but it got boring and I discontinued.
Despite it all, I loved the arts, particularly subjects that required lots of writing. Like literature, journalism… I loved reading good writing and have stopped in those moments, to think and sometimes reread (more loudly to myself), how intelligent and beautiful the phrase, paragraph or sentence of attention is.
Oh, when I say good writing, I mean one that leads the reader on, interlaced with transitions that make it all believable, nothing with superfluous diction, crisp, some amount of sarcasm, the right punctuation and good vocabulary is a no brainer.
So as I began journalism school, I didn’t think too much about my deficiency-good writing, because I largely saw the profession in terms of holding the microphone, travelling to discover people and things. A lot far from writing.
It was in the second semester of my Level 100 vacation, where my writing anxieties started. I had been to a two-day seminar on investigative journalism. At the end of the programme, we were encouraged to also take up writing, start blogs et cetera. But I’m sure you might guess my problem.
Well, I took up an internship during my long vacation the next year. I was scared of reaching my senior year without being able to write news. I did pretty well at that, hurray! A few steps up from the bottom of the ladder.
Fast forward, a year after, I’m back to internship again, aiming to do better at journalism, not just writing. My name is Gifty Danso, an intern at Ghana Business News and I’m putting together a short piece about my experience working for this media platform.
I identify with Ghana Business News, I think, on four points-unconventional story angles (writing from the uncommon angle, more intellectual, and hardly similar to what we see with our local giants), investigative journalism, business journalism and good writing.
I’m learning from my editor that journalism, is about intellectualism. This keeps ringing in my ears all time, even when I’m writing a story or even considering a pitch.
I’m also learning that journalism is hardly a product of what someone says; contradictory, that is what we see most of the time. Rather, it is a thorough process of fact checking, accuracy, balance, and fairness with the aim of getting to the truth.
I know there are zillions of things I can learn in the area of investigative journalism. I am picking a few actually. I mean it’s really a big deal to train under a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Ha! on top of that, he went to Columbia, I mean Columbia University in the City of New York.
I also know I’m putting in my little efforts at the job. For a novice, it always is difficult in the beginning. But in the end, I aim at making my writing and journalism the best.
Sometimes it may seem draining correcting every tiny detail, but that is what makes the end product beautiful. To my editor, we may stutter in paying attention to detail, but we’ll get there and make it all, a part of our lives, eventually, and do great journalism in the public interest.
By Gifty Danso
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